Change → Tom Riddle

05

Olivia was currently sat in the library alone, after two weeks of slowly trying to become acquaintances with Tom; and she only ever tried to make conversation with him during prefect patrol, because it was easier when it was just the two of them. 

The reason Olivia sat alone was because Eve had Quidditch practice, and Gabriella was said she had to go somewhere on 'secret business' (Olivia was sure she would tell them in her own time). Additionally, Olivia just liked to study. Making notes, creating something called 'mind maps' (they'd learnt it in Muggle Studies; Olivia had found them so useful)- it was all her kind of thing. And she loved reading too. Olivia could spend hours doing what she was right now, undisturbed, and that was her relaxation. 

And then Tom Riddle sat down opposite her. 

At first, Olivia thought it was just someone random, and it genuinely took her ten minutes to realise who it was. When she did, she offered Tom, who looked up at the same time, a friendly smile. He didn't return it. So, Olivia just shrugged and went back to her work, getting up every now and then to return and pick up new books. Tom didn't get up, just continued to write whatever it was he was doing. 

It was maybe an hour or two later when one of them finally spoke. 
"Ay, mierda," Olivia muttered, as her bottle of ink knocked over onto her latest mindmap. She had to grab her wand from her back pocket to clean up the mess when Tom stopped her. 
"I've got it," he said mildly, and waved his wand over her work. 
"Wandless magic," Olivia observed. "We've yet to start that in Charms." 
"I like to... do my own research, sometimes. It helps to be ahead," he explained. He still sounded mild and uninterested. 
"I guess," Olivia replied, looking back down at her work. "Todo esfuerzo tiene su recompensa."
"What?" Tom asked, actually startled. It made Olivia look up. 
"Perdón. It means 'every effort pays off'. I forget no-one here speaks Spanish. But it does pay to be bilingual." Tom just nodded. Maybe fifteen minutes later, it was Tom who spoke again. 
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Claro," Olivia replied. 
"In Potions, you mentioned your brother's grave. I thought he was alive." 
"Javier? Ay, si, he is alive. And a dick, by the looks of it. But I did have another hermano," Olivia explained. 
"If you don't mind me asking," Tom said slowly, like he was forcing himself to be polite, "how did he..?" Olivia smiled sadly. 
"It was part of the reason we moved here. He died due to a... political uprising. He was twelve." Olivia could tell that Tom knew she was edging around it. "It's not something I like to talk about," she added therefore, for she knew he was going to ask more. 

"I honestly thought he was going to carry on asking me," Olivia told Eve and Gabriella, as they made their way down to the lake. "So I had to put my foot down. Honestly." 
"I don't know why Dumbledore made you do this. Well, actually, I do," Eve corrected. "It's just... Tom is kind of scary. Like, he's fit and all, but still."
"Strong and silent," Gabriella added. She snorted. 
"Why is that funny?" Olivia asked. 
"It's a slow burn," Gabriella waved off. "You'll get it later." The other two girls shared a look and shrugged as they stopped at the waters edged. The three girls looked around, to check no one was watching, and then jumped in. 

But someone was watching.

--
Todo esfuerzo tiene su recompensa → every effort pays off
 Perdón → sorry
Claro  → sure